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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155467">open wounds</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chitra_Rive/pseuds/Chitra_Rive'>Chitra_Rive</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Welcome to Night Vale</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Gen, Short One Shot, i was stuck on the ending so i just didn't write one, im gonna hack the system, kind of angst?, no beta we die like earl harlan being dragged into the tent at the eternal scouts ritual, so we'll see if that works</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:01:51</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>494</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24155467</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chitra_Rive/pseuds/Chitra_Rive</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>An Earl character study.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Earl Harlan &amp; Cecil Palmer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>open wounds</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>yeets this w/out writing an ending or editing</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Cecil’s dragged Earl into his kitchen. Earl kind of expected that- ever since Cecil learned that he was working for Tourniquet, he’s been neatly labeled in Cecil’s mind as Friend Who Can Cook. He’s hoping he can use this- spending time together off the air- to try to get through to him again, though it doesn’t seem to be working no matter how much he talks. “So… what are we doing?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so I was listening to past broadcasts, and then I found the bit- the one that’s not on my main show? A monologue episode. The September Monologues, officially. And </span>
  <em>
    <span>Steve Carlsburg</span>
  </em>
  <span> had a part- god knows who let </span>
  <em>
    <span>him </span>
  </em>
  <span>into the radio station- and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>insulted </span>
  </em>
  <span>the food I bring to the PTA! Like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>okay, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Steve, if that’s what you need to say to feel better about your </span>
  <em>
    <span>terrible scones-” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Cecil’s pacing around the kitchen, waving his hands. Once he gets started complaining about something, it’s impossible to get a word in edgewise- one time, he’d gone on for three hours about some bad movie adaptation. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And you wouldn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>believe </span>
  </em>
  <span>what he said about the sports program-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cool, so, Cecil,” Earl cuts in finally, “what are you getting at here?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“Oh! I want your help making something.</span> <span>Only criteria is that they need to be better than Steve’s scones, so I mean, like, it should be pretty easy.” </span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Earl glances around Cecil’s kitchen. “Do you know how to make brownies?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course!” Cecil says, with just enough overconfidence to be worrying. Earl resigns himself to something being lit on fire. Again. That’s been kind of a theme in baking with Cecil. He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>so, so </span>
  </em>
  <span>glad Carlos can apparently cook. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Cecil rolls up his sleeves, (he’s wearing an oversize lavender wool sweater with a rainbow cat on it labeled ‘purr-ide!) exposing a long set of scratches across his left arm. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Earl frowns. “Are you alright? What happened?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cecil looks down with an expression of surprise. “Oh, I didn’t even notice! I must’ve gotten scratched when the antiques escaped.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>That was like three weeks ago, and you didn’t do anything about it? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Earl just barely stops himself from asking. The thing is, that’s just what Cecil is </span>
  <em>
    <span>like</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He’ll have a literal open wound, and he won’t acknowledge it until he bleeds out.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <span>Earl’s always been scared, by Night Vale and life in general. It’s just ... </span>
  <em>
    <span>weird, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and time doesn’t work, and there are so, so many ways you can die. The sun started multiplying last week, for god’s sake. He’s trying to get some kind of grip on his life- he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he even got a therapist, and that’s helping, even though at their sessions she just kind of… howls? And drips this weird liquid? Point was, it was way more difficult than it should be. He’d been displaced in time, and then he’d almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>died, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and that didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>happen </span>
  </em>
  <span>normally! He just… he didn’t know what to </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>about it.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>leave a comment if you liked!!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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